This invention relates to a product and method for treating and preventing diarrhea and diarrheal symptoms. More particularly, this invention relates to a natural food product which, when administered to a subject animal, treats and prevents diarrhea and diarrheal symptoms in that subject animal.
Diarrhea is a worldwide problem for individuals of all ages. Diarrhea is a common condition, which at the very least is life disrupting and can be life threatening. Acute diarrhea can be produced by a variety of pathological organisms, functional disruptions of intestinal function and as a drug-related side effect.
Some of the conditions in which diarrhea occurs are infant diarrhea (e.g., rotavirus-induced), childhood diarrhea, organism induced diarrhea (i.e. food poisoning), most gastrointestinal disorders, and diseases which affect the gastrointestinal system indirectly. Infants and children suffering from diarrhea have a major problem since they can become severely dehydrated and require fluids and medication.
Diarrhea is also common in cancer patients and may interfere with cancer treatment (Ippoliti, 1998). Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, graft-versus-hot disease (GVHD), bone marrow transplantation, or infection may induce diarrhea. Bacterial pathogens may also produce diarrheal symptoms with a spectrum of effects ranging from severe tissue damage to a lack of perceptible damage. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli which causes acute and severe diarrhea, does so by producing potent toxins, which act by altering the biological activity in epithelial cells. (Isaacson, 1998).
Current treatment of diarrhea consists of antibiotic treatment of the causative organisms or pharmacological intervention in pathophysiological function. Antidiarrheal drugs reduce the symptoms of diarrhea (loose stool consistency, frequency of defecation and excessive stool weight) by effects on intestinal transit, mucosal transport or luminal contents (Schiller, 1995). Opioids such as loperamide are the most useful antidiarrheal agents and act by a combination of inhibition of intestinal transit, pro-absorptive and anti-secretory effects. Other useful pharmacological therapies include use of alpha-adrenergic agonists such as clonidine and somatostatin analogues. These drugs may modify mucosal transport in addition to slowing transit but have limited clinical utility due to nonspecificity of action. Adsorbents (KAOPECTATE(copyright)), bismuth (PEPTO-BISMOL(copyright)) and stool texture modifiers are used frequently as over the counter medication, but their efficacy, other than PEPTO-BISMOL(copyright), is largely unproven.
A safe and effective natural anti-diarrheal agent would be very useful in therapy of acute and chronic diarrheal conditions.
The invention is based upon the inventors"" discovery that there is anti-diarrheal activity in egg or egg products and particularly in egg products obtained from hyperimmunized avians, which when administered to a subject animal, prevents or reduces diarrhea in that subject animal.
In particular, the invention is directed to a method of treating and preventing diarrheal symptoms in a subject animal, the method comprising administering to the subject animal an effective amount of egg product wherein said egg product comprises one or more anti-diarrheal agents, wherein said one or more anti-diarrheal agents comprises a substance other than an antibody.